Fields benefits by returning for senior year
Joshua Fields stepped off the airplane at Ben Epps Airport on Thursday - just a day after Georgia lost the national championship series to Fresno State - with new goals in mind.

Dogs' Games to Remember 2008
Georgia played71 games this season and finished as national runner-up at the College World Series. Here arethe Bulldogs' 16 most memorable games of the season and how they rank.

New show might boost film industry in Athens
Athens film professional and musician Curtis Crowe has made a living in the film industry for 15 years, but this summer a new TV project has afforded him his first opportunity to work in his home town.

Permits
Permits Issued in Athens-Clarke County as reported in the June 16-June 20 Hunt Letter.

Golden Nail Awards recognize businesses for renovation work
The Downtown Athens Business Association held its annual meeting Monday night at Ciné on West Hancock Avenue, where members recognized several businesses for renovation work and honored a fellow downtown business owner who closed her store this year.

Nelson: Report's data might assist with decision
The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security has scheduled the next public meeting addressing the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility proposed for University of Georgia property on Athens for Aug. 14 at the Georgia Center, 1197 S. Lumpkin St.

Keely - Sanders engagement
Dr. and Mrs. David Fulmer Keely III of Rock Hill, South Carolina, are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Anna Williams Keely, to Steven Lee Sanders, son of Mr. Horace Lee Sanders of Watkinsville, Georgia, and Mrs. Judy Parker Parham of Comer, Georgia.

Foster - Sather wedding
Lauren Stiles Foster and Martin Randall Sather were united in Holy Matrimony on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 7 p.m. in the evening at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah, Georgia. Reverend Creede Hinshaw was the officiant.

Whitsel - Wills engagement
Mr. and Mrs. Danny Whitsel of Athens is pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Janie "Beth" Elizabeth Whitsel to Richard Ryan Wills, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Wills of Hiawassee.

Payne - McDuffie engagement
Paris Payne and Madison L. McDuffie are pleased to announce their wedding ceremony on August 2, 2008 in Marietta, GA. Paris is the son of Carol Carter.

Husky, puppies swiped from yard
Thieves stole a Siberian husky and its two puppies from the fenced-in yard of a home on Acadia Drive between 7 a.m. and noon Thursday, Athens-Clarke police said. The owner said the dogs were worth $1,200.

Laptop, arrowhead taken from home
Thieves entered a 26-year-old man's home on Edwards Drive between 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. Friday and stole a $1,000 laptop and an Indian arrowhead, Athens-Clarke police said.

Woman forced to drive to Athens
A Royston woman told Athens-Clarke police two men forced her at gunpoint to drive them from Commerce to Athens on Friday afternoon.

Teen faces charges in theft of computer
Police charged a 14-year-old boy with burglary and underage alcohol possession after he confessed to stealing a $3,000 laptop from a house on River Oak Way, Athens-Clarke police said.

Man knocked out in downtown fight
Police are looking for a man who punched another man unconscious early Friday at the corner of West Hancock Avenue and North Hull Street, Athens-Clarke police said.

Thieves take guns, coins in burglary
Burglars broke a kitchen window to get into a home on Fairview Drive between 5 p.m. Wednesday and 11:55 p.m. Thursday and stole two handguns, a rifle, a knife, an air-soft gun, a mug filled with change and a decorative picture valued at $1,520, Athens-Clarke police said.

Foul play ruled out in freezer body case
Investigators at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime Lab have ruled out foul play in the death of Billie Welty, the 42-year-old Jefferson woman who was discovered in a freezer in her Banks Road home Sunday.

Trip home gives Moreno break from frenzy
Knowshon Moreno zoomed onto the scene last season by piling up more yards than any Georgia freshman since Herschel Walker and endeared himself to fans with a high-energy style that included sprinting back to the huddle.

Francis Assaf: Hydrogen fuel can be feasible energy source
While it is true today that some hydrogen fuel production methods consume more energy than they produce, and also emit toxic gases that must be scrubbed or neutralized, one method, still in its infancy, shows a great deal of promise - biological hydrogen production. In the late 1990s, scientists discovered that some types of algae, if starved of sulfur, switch to producing hydrogen from photosynthesis instead of oxygen.

Megan Seda: Fleming's ambition in 10th is more proper than Broun's
Incumbent Republican 10th District Georgia Congressman Paul Broun is saying the only reason his GOP challenger, Barry Fleming, is running is because Fleming is "ambitious." This is quite hypocritical of Broun, in light of his previous campaign for the 10th District seat.

Thomas Johnson: UGA basketball player should be sent to jail
As a lifelong resident of Gwinnett County, I find it alarming that University of Georgia basketball player Billy Humphrey was driving on our public highways while intoxicated (Story, "Senior guard in trouble yet again," Thursday). Not only should he lose his free education at the university, he also should serve jail time.

Lt. Col. Bill Jones: Local soldier's memory always will be honored
The Athens Banner-Herald's Wednesday story concerning local attorney Jim Smith's ridicule of fellow local attorney Andrew Marshall wearing a "star pin" in memory of his son Evan, a U.S. Army corporal who gave his life for his country and comrades-in-arms in Iraq, shocked me to the core ("Lawyer's jabs draw objection/ Rebuked by judge").

Living notes: 'Rain' hits stands
"Does It Really Rain Cats and Dogs?" Children can find out by flipping through the pages of Michelle Marie Whaley's new book, which is illustrated by Ada Ortiz. Whaley was born and raised in Georgia and has taught Montessori programs since 1992 and today directs a school in Duluth. She and her husband, Bill, have four daughters and live in Bethlehem.

Rich: Two strangers linked forever
Several years ago, an obituary in the Atlanta paper caught my eye and I clipped it out. I ran across it recently and, again as then, I found myself fascinated by how it summed up the man that died and what that summation says about our society.

'Telephono' rings true to Matysiak's vision of project
Former Athens resident David Matysiak, who is perhaps best known in these parts for his decade-long membership in Jet By Day, recently put the finishing touches on what could well be 2008's most interesting musical and cultural experiment.

Gerson: Explaining the 'Chosen People'
In the now-classic Broadway play "Fiddler on the Roof," portraying the beleaguered life of the Jews in a poor village in Czarist Russia, the milkman Tevye agonizingly looks up to the heavens and sighs: "Dear God, I know we're the chosen people ... but couldn't you choose somebody else sometime?"

Today's Best bets
'Frogs: Artistry in the Gardens' - Bring the kids to this family-friendly artist's reception for W. Carl Ealy, a nationally renowned nature artist whose depictions of frogs, butterflies and dragonflies will be on view at the garden through July 25.

Theatre to fill summer with Shakespeare
Lisa Cesnik figured she was missing it. Athens appeared as a creative "oasis," the place where men and women could somehow make ends meet while pursuing the highest levels of fine art, dance and music.

Rossiter: For me, it's a matter of style
You deal with a lot of doctors in a university town. Many of them with Ph.D. behind their names want to know why Dr. does not appear before their names in print. Problem is, AP Style - shortened for The Associated Press Stylebook - mandates we reserve Dr. for M.D.s.

Galleries transformed into underwater world
Swarms of jellyfish gently undulate near the ceiling to the tune of whale songs and bubbly underwater sounds. A 40-foot whale swims on one wall against flat waves of blue, green and lavender. Tiny crabs and starfish are underfoot, and seaweed and coral reefs push up from sand-colored hardwood floor. When it's finished, an enormous octopus with five-foot long legs will sprawl in the middle of the room.

Athens band finds longterm relationships a plus
After more than seven years together, it would be understandable for a band to get the itch: to want to see what else is out there. Luckily for fans of Maserati, Athens' veteran instrumental post-rock quartet, they're the marrying kind.

Today's Best Bets
Summer Book Sale - The Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library are selling books to benefit the library. Browse through thousands of fiction, non-fiction, hardback and paperback titles for additions to your summer reading list.

Today's Best Bets
Summer Book Sale - The Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library are selling books to benefit the library. Browse through thousands of fiction, non-fiction, hardback and paperback titles for additions to your summer reading list.

New generation of music fans giving vinyl a spin
It was a fortuitous typo for the Fred Meyer retail chain. This spring, an employee intending to order a special CD-DVD edition of R.E.M.'s latest release "Accelerate" inadvertently entered the "LP" code instead. Soon boxes of the big, vinyl discs showed up at several stores.

Athens band finds longterm relationships a plus
After more than seven years together, it would be understandable for a band to get the itch: to want to see what else is out there. Luckily for fans of Maserati, Athens' veteran instrumental post-rock quartet, they're the marrying kind.

Today's Best bets
'Frogs: Artistry in the Gardens' - Bring the kids to this family-friendly artist's reception for W. Carl Ealy, a nationally renowned nature artist whose depictions of frogs, butterflies and dragonflies will be on view at the garden through July 25.

Theatre to fill summer with Shakespeare
Lisa Cesnik figured she was missing it. Athens appeared as a creative "oasis," the place where men and women could somehow make ends meet while pursuing the highest levels of fine art, dance and music.

'Telephono' rings true to Matysiak's vision of project
Former Athens resident David Matysiak, who is perhaps best known in these parts for his decade-long membership in Jet By Day, recently put the finishing touches on what could well be 2008's most interesting musical and cultural experiment.

Dogs give Humphrey boot
Billy Humphrey knew that his second alcohol-related arrest in four months could end up costing him his spot on the Georgia basketball team. It turns out that he was right.

Pakistan aims major strike at militants
KHYBER AGENCY, Pakistan - Pakistan's newly elected government launched the first major assault against militants in the country's volatile northwest Saturday, destroying a militant leader's headquarters and shelling suspected hideouts of other fighters.

N. Korea destroys reactor cooling tower
YONGBYON, North Korea - The gray cooling tower crumbled behind billowing dust clouds in seconds Friday, reducing the structure at North Korea's nuclear reactor into a pile of rubble. It was a choreographed show by the communist regime meant to affirm an intention to stop making atomic bombs.

Smoke threatens health in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of lightning-sparked wildfires have turned the air of Northern California into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletics events and other outdoor activities.

Many without power after strong storm
OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska's largest city struggled Saturday to restore power to thousands of residents a day after a severe storm damaged homes, uprooted trees and killed two people in a neighboring community.

Zimbabwe runoff marked by threats
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Roaming bands of government supporters heckled, harassed or threatened people into voting in a runoff election Friday in which President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate, ensuring he will remain in power despite international condemnation of the balloting as a sham.

Enslaving millionaire gets prison time
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - A millionaire convicted of helping his wife keep two Indonesian housekeepers as virtual slaves was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison, ending a trial that shed light on the often little-seen exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.

McCain calls for electric car effort
LORDSTOWN, Ohio - Republican John McCain on Friday told autoworkers in an economically depressed area of Ohio that he supports free-trade agreements many of them feel cost jobs, but also government investment to help produce the electric cars of the future.

McCain, Obama battle for crucial Hispanic votes
WASHINGTON - Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama on Saturday vied for the support of Hispanics, beginning a four-month courtship of a pivotal voting constituency by vowing to remake immigration policy.

Bush: More penalties against Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe came under threat of further sanctions Saturday as President Bush said the U.S. was working on new ways to punish longtime leader Robert Mugabe and his allies following the widely denounced presidential runoff election.

Report: Taliban likely to increase attacks
WASHINGTON - The Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan and the pace of its attacks is likely to increase this year, according to a Pentagon report that offers a dim view of progress in the nearly 7-year-old war.

What's really causing salmonella outbreak?
WASHINGTON - As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak - or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly-harvested tomatoes.

Sandbags fail; river rushes in
WINFIELD, Mo. - A makeshift barrier holding back the Mississippi River failed early Saturday, swamping the low-lying part of the small community of Winfield and ending a valiant but ultimately doomed battle against the surging river.

Muskrat breaks Missouri levee
WINFIELD, Mo. - A heroic effort by hundreds of townspeople, volunteers and National Guardsmen to hold back the Mississippi River failed Friday - undone by a burrowing muskrat.

Pentagon to order 30,000 troops to Iraq
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned.

Obama, Clinton join in Unity
UNITY, N.H. - Rivals turned allies, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made a display of unity Friday in a hamlet named for it, their first joint public appearance since the divisive Democratic primary race ended.

Uga I
Uga VI, the University of Georgia's beloved mascot, died Friday night of congestive heart failure, one month shy of his 10th birthday.

Police pass on role in roundup of illegal aliens
Roberto's brother and cousin were swept up by immigration officials in Athens earlier this month and are awaiting deportation hearings. That didn't stop the Mexican immigrant from calling police early the morning of June 20, when he spotted a man breaking into his car outside his home on Vincent Drive.

Music camp, mentor program win grants
The Jackson EMC Foundation has awarded grants to Camp Amped, a summer music day camp program offered by Nui's Space, and the Madison County Mentor Program that pairs students with mentors in seven Madison County schools.

Georgia man gets 13 years in prison
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Georgia man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the Birmingham arm of a multi-state counterfeit check ring.

Bereavement group to start at St. Mary's
The Pastoral Care Department at St. Mary's Hospital is starting a bereavement support group to help people who have experienced the loss of a loved one, with the first meeting set for July 10.

Elberton's own to add to MLK tribute
A native of granite-rich Elberton will have a hand in forming a massive new monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., planned for a prominent spot in Washington.

St. Mary's offering diabetes ed program
The Diabetes Education Department at St. Mary's Hospital and CCS Medical will present a free program, "The Role Exercise Plays in Managing Diabetes," from 6-7:30 p.m. July 8 in the hospital's Flower Suites.

Editorial unfair to environmental agency
The Banner-Herald's editorial "EPD needs to be tougher on water issues" is based on an incomplete understanding of what the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, local governments and individual citizens have been doing to better prepare this year for another summer of drought.

BOE ethics policy needs careful look
Judging from her comments in a Friday story in this newspaper, this community can be relieved that Sidney Anne Waters opted not to seek re-election to the District 8 seat on the Clarke County Board of Education.

Religiously speaking, Americans are tolerant
Here's a nice news flash: Most people really are religious and tolerant, faithful and open, altogether American. That's the conclusion this week of a major Pew Research Center study of religion in America. They call it "non-dogmatic." In what feels like an increasingly dogmatic world, it is ultimately our greatest strength.

Finding chicks in the city
When I start to bake a cake, I no longer ignore the recipes that call for half a dozen eggs. Eggs are a dime a dozen in our household, because we have - joy of joys - our own chickens.

Yarbrough: Senator wants to hear gas tales
I was deep in thought on my back porch in the North Georgia mountains when the phone rang. It was Sen. Saxby Chambliss calling from Washington. Given his druthers, I suspect he would have preferred sitting on the porch staring at the mountains to being stuck in Washington with a Congress sporting a 13 percent approval rating.

Johnson: Chisholm paved way for Obama and Clinton
The historic hallmarks of the presidential campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama provide an interesting analysis concerning the dynamics of gender and race in American politics.

Blog Bits
Government reporter Blake Aued, on the Democrats vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Saxby Chambliss:

Looking at Presidential pastimes
During this election year, we will get to know quite a bit about the candidates - sometimes much more than we would like to know. I've long had a fascination with presidential politics and with the lives of those who have occupied the land's highest office. But how much do we really know about them - especially how they spent their "leisure" time?

Thompson: Biotech still an achievable dream
The answer to your question is, "No, I haven't, except for a bit of skimming." But that's OK, because most of the rest of you probably haven't done much more than "skimming" yourself.

Random Thoughts: Better things to do
It would be nice if all of the energies devoted to wars could be used for something positive, such as educating the uneducated, promoting science, cleaning the environment, feeding the hungry, doctoring the sick, developing a common language and promoting population control, among other things.

Pettitte on a streak, outpitches Santana
NEW YORK - Andy Pettitte outpitched Johan Santana for his sixth straight win, leading the New York Yankees past the New York Mets 3-2 on Saturday at rainy Shea Stadium.

Chopra builds a cushion at Buick
GRAND BLANC, Mich. - Daniel Chopra's tendency to be wild off the tee and accurate from the rough led Todd Hamilton's caddie to give him a nickname at the Buick Open.

Gibbs pulls Kyle Busch from some races
LOUDON, N.H. - Joe Gibbs Racing put the brakes on some of Kyle Busch's racing excursions, pulling him out of Saturday's NASCAR Modified race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Jurrjens pitches gem in shut out
TORONTO - Bobby Cox has seen plenty of fine pitching performances as manager of the Atlanta Braves, but few as good as the one Jair Jurrjens delivered Friday.

Braves' rookies seeing more time
ATLANTA - Tim Hudson stood at his locker this week, trying to think back to the days when Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were the mainstays of the Atlanta Braves' rotation.

Venus races to Wimbledon fourth round
WIMBLEDON, England - One swing from completing her week's work, Venus Williams toed the baseline, dribbled the ball, gave it a toss and delivered yet another thunderclap serve at sun-kissed Wimbledon.

MLB roundup: Pale Hose squeak by Cubs
n WHITE SOX 6, CUBS 5: At Chicago, manager Ozzie Guillen reversed the question as soon as it was asked. Where would the Chicago White Sox be without Carlos Quentin?

Cardinals activate left-hander Mulder
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mark Mulder, limited by a shoulder injury to just three major league appearances since the 2006 season, was activated Friday by the St. Louis Cardinals and sent to their bullpen.

Top-seeded Ivanovic becomes latest upset
WIMBLEDON, England - Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic was knocked out in the third round of Wimbledon on Friday by 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie of China, extending a spate of stunning upsets at the All England Club.

Former Georgia track standouts headed to Beijing
EUGENE, Ore. - Two former Georgia track athletes qualified for the U.S. Olympic team. Reese Hoffa qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the men's shot put and Hyleas Fountain qualified in the heptathlon. Hoffa, the reigning world outdoor champion, finished first Saturday at the trials to determine the roster for Beijing. Fountain finished first at the national track and field trials with 6,667 points.

Smith: 'Whatchagot Loran?' Fond recollections
My friend, Uga VI, is dead. His death is not exactly a shock - he was old for a bulldog - but the news still hit hard. Of all the Georgia mascots, he was the most special for a special reason. He was named for me.

Georgia's beloved mascot dies of heart failure
Georgia fans had hoped for one more season. But it just wasn't meant to be. Uga VI, the University of Georgia's beloved mascot, died in Savannah on Friday night of congestive heart failure, one month shy of his 10th birthday.